Door latch



F H. I'LASTINGS.

DOOR LATCH. APPL'lc-ATloN FILED MAR. 2o, 1920.

Lgw, mama 001;. 1751922 f t A I9/ im. M

INVENTO Patented ct., l?, 192% i mah-ne DOOR LATCH.

Application filed March 20, 1920. Serial No. 367,316.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK H. HASTINGS, a citizen of the United States,residing at St.v Johnsbury, in the county of Caledonia and State ofVermont, have invented new and useful improvements in Door Latches,

'y the spring will tend to normally hold the of which the following is aspecification.

The invention relates to doors and other forms of closures and moreparticularly to the `doors on motor and other vehicles and has for anobject to provide a latch therefor. v v y Among other' features theinventioncomprehends a simple form of latch or lock for use onautomobile doors and the like to secure the same in locked relationtothe body orv frameof the vehicle with'means for readily actuating thelatch to unlock the door so that it can be easily opened. To this endthe invention comprehends spring actuated elements which will tend tonormally prevent the door from rattling when in closed position, thelock being adapted for use in connection with doors on open. or closedvehicles, as the case may be.

ln the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings constituting a part of this speciiication, inwhich similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in allthe views, and in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinalsectional view taken through an automobile door and a portion of theframe showing the use of my device on an automobile door of an openbody.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through the door andframe as .well as through parts of the improvement,

the dotted lines indicating the position of the latch member when apressure has been exerted upon the operating rod to unlatch the door.

Referring more particularly to the views the numeral 10 indicates anautomobile door and 11, the frame for the door. The door is hinged, theopposite sill 13 providing what may be termed an abutment for the door.Suitably secured in the sill 13 is a spring arm 1A having the end 15fitted into the sill and the end 16 normally spaced from the sill andformed in a Z-shape head, providing a nose 17 and a recessed portion 18.A push rod 19 is mounted in the doo-r and at its upper end carries ahandle piece 2O which normally lits almost flush with the top of thedoor, the top being grooved or gouged out torreceive the piece. Avspring21 encircles the rod 19 and has one end abutting against a part of theframe work of the door as at 22, the other end of the spring beingsecured to the lrod in any suitable manner so that rod in its uppermostposition, so that a head 23 on the lower endY of the rod will normallyfit in a seat 24 of a plate 25, the latter being secured to the edge 12of the door with the rod 19 passing through an opening 26 in the plate.The plate is also formed with a strike 27 having an inclined face 2S andby reference to Figure 1, it will be seen that when the door is closedthe strike will ride over the spring arinla, pressing its free endagainst the sill until the strike is passed beyond the extension 17,after which the free end of the spring arm will spring out so that theinclined face 28 will fit into the recessed portion 1S.

A downward push exerted on the handle piece 20 actuates the push rodagainst the action of the spring 21, causing the head 23 of the rod tobe projected against the head of the spring arm 14 thus moving it towardthe sill and out of the path of the strike 27 so that the door can now-be swung into an open position, it being of course understood that theaction of the push rod against the spring arm will cause the inclinedportion or face of the head of the spring arm to ride upon the inclinedface of the strike and thus bring about a` slight inward movement of thedoor before it is released.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the latch describedis of a simple construction; consists of few parts that cannot readilyget out of order and that by having the handle piece 2O fitted close tothe upper edge of the door, the usual unsightly handles now generallyfound on the inside or outside of automobiles are entirely done awaywith and my form or handle piece will present a neat and effectiveappearance without destroying the appearance of the automobile body.

ris disclosed in the horizontal sectional view, the nose 18 of theZ-shaped latch 17 is received against the inner face 27 of the keepermember and is held in frictional engagement therewith by its ownresiliency and thus the movement of the door in one direction isprevented. 'lfhe nose of the latch is also held in such position by thespring influenced push rod, the head of the latter cont-acting with thebody 17 of the latch. The rictional engagement between the head of thepush rod and the latch is Suiiiicient to prevent the accidental Swingingof the door in a second direction. It the operator exerts a determinedpressure upon the push rod to permit of the opening of the door,

such pressure will cause the bowing of the body 17 ol the spring latch,causing the nose 18 thereof to be brought out of engagement with theinclined face 27 of the le'eper, and also forcing the latch bodily intothe pocket provided therefor, thus permitting the door to freely open.Then relieved of' pressure, thelatch will assume the position shown inthe said horizontal sectional View and the swinging of the door toclosed position will again bring the nose 18 into engagement with theinclined face 27 'of the keeper member, and the spring inluencedrod willagain have its head contacting the body of the latch, as disclosed inthe 'full lines in the said sectional view.

UHaving described my. invention, I claim-f 1.' A'means for |`latching'adoor tof the abutment sill of a frame onwhich the door is hinged,comprising a spring arm secured to the sill of the, frame and having thehead end thereof normally. spaced from the sill, a strike on the doorand projecting therefrom to lock with the head of the spring arm and apush rod on the door and movable to have an endv thereof engage thespring arm and move thesame out of engagement with the strike. 4 i" 2.'In combination with a frame and a door hinged to the frame, of means forlatching the door to the frame, comprising a, spring'larm secured to thesill of the frame and having the head end'thereof normally spaced from'the sill,`'a strike" on the door and projecting therefrom to lock withthehead' of thespriiig arm, a push rod on the door and movablertfd havean end thereof engage the springamn and move the same out ofengagement*with` the strike and a handle piece for operating the pushrod, saidhandle piece being carried on one end ot the push rod' andsimulating the lines of the upper edge oi' the .doorni "In testimonywhereof Izailixl my signature.

" 'FRANK H. H'STINGSL v

